Herdsmen Attack: Olu Falae’s oil plantation set ablaze, but WHY?

The five hectare of oil palm plantation belonging to former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, has been set ablaze by some people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Sunday.

Falae was kidnapped in September 2015 by herdsmen on the same farm located at Ilado Village in Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Quick intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari who ordered the then Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomom Arase (rtd) and his men led to his release.

The Punch quoted Chief Falae as saying that the herdsmen were deliberately attacking his farm for no reason, “I don’t know why the herdsmen were attacking my farm; they did it last year, they did the same year before the last.

“That is how they burn it every year so that fresh grass can come out for their cattle to eat.

“They attack my oil palm cultivation; the mature oil palm trees that have been bearing fruits to make palm oil have been burnt down.

“This is a wicked act and malicious damage. This goes beyond what their cattle want to eat.

In a related development, Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, has said that the police would ensure the prosecution of all herdsmen involved in the alleged destruction of over 20 hectares of farmland in the Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of the state.

Kokumo, told newsmen in Benin City that “We have received reports of the destruction of economic crops by the herdsmen and we are working to ensure that erring herdsmen are punished for whatever offence committed, by way of sending them to court.

“We will make them answerable to the offences committed. So, it is within the competence of the courts to punish where they see that an offence has been committed.

“It is not within the competence of the police to administer punishment. But we will ensure that they (suspects) go through the rigours of the court process.”

He urged farmers not to take laws into their hands, as anyone found culpable “will not be exempted from prosecution.”